The Way Winter Comes: Alaska Stories

by Sherry Simpson

Book Overview

Winner of the 1997 Chinook Literary Prize, Sherry Simpson's debut collection of essays manifests an original and distinctive vision of Alaska and signals the arrival of an uncommonly accomplished new... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570611467
• ISBN13: 9781570611469
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding

Simpson is a brilliant writer with the uncanny ability to construct paragraphs that capture the essence of Alaska in only a few words. She's amusing, moving and informative in a voice that is instantly familiar and enjoyable. I often recommend "The Way Winter Comes" as a must-read contemporary book on life in Alaska. Her latest book "The Accidental Explorer," is also excellent.

Writing that transcends the labels

Calling this book nature writing, or Alaska writing, or wilderness writing is to box it into a space that is too small. This is just damn GOOD writing by someone who knows how to take the reader places without heavy-handedness. In many ways, I find Simpson's essay to be better than the oft-mentioned names like McPhee, Muir, Gutkind, etc.

Fair, insightful, lushly written book

Simpson takes the reader on a literary tour of Alaska. From her upbringing here in Juneau to her excursions in the deep Arctic, we are given an open window to peer into some of the mysteries of the many faces of Alaska. Her journalistic past affords her some true objectivity in dealing with controversial topics like wolf trapping.

Simpson has done something very well, perfectly well.

The Way Winter Comes is one of the best pieces of Alaskan -- or any -- writing I have read in decades. Readers who do not experience this small, precious book may have wasted some portion of their lives. Get it. Get it now.

Beautifully Written

Sherry Simpson's prose is fantastic. Her thoughts are insightful and interesting. The author uses the native animals of Alaska to describe the Alaska Experience and her own personal experiences. Each page was a revelation of what I love about Alaska as well as why. Sherry has the ability to write from any perspective, and to show reality by combining factual references with her own experiences and exposing two sides to every question. She obviously has a passion and it shows in her work. Very "personally" thought provoking.